CRM has also caused a few problems. The main one is that it has encouraged some FOs to be overzealous with trivial issues such as minor deviations from SOPs.
Some pursers have now adopted the belief that if they make a suggestion to the captain that he/she is somehow obligated to do it.
In a nutshell, the downside of CRM is that it has undermined the authority of the Captain in some instances. Many FOs and Cabin Crew have failed to manage the fine line between making a suggestion or providing information and assuming control.
Complicating this, of course, is the fact that some Captains simply should not be in command but that's another issue.
The fundamental reason for CRM has been completely lost in all the BS: the forest is lost in the trees.
The fundamental purpose of CRM is to mitigate the efect of human error.
Humans will always make mistakes, lapses, stuff ups etc. The idea of CRM is to nip them in the bud before something bad happens.
For example, if an FA does not properly disarm a door, good CRM will mean another picks it up and 'nips it in the bud' before a slide blows.
Anything that supports this mitigation is CRM. All of the associated principles that go in and out of fashion are designed to support this notion. The problem has been that the CRM fanatics will tell you that 'teamwork' is the most important thing. Next week it's 'communication'. The week after its 'assertiveness'.
They are all important, in the context of CRM, so far as they support the underlying foundation.
[This message has been edited by Virgil (edited 26 August 1999).]